Heaven’s Coast (Magill’s Literary Annual 1997)
At a glance:
- Author: Mark Doty
- First Published: 1996
- Type of Work: Memoir
- Time of Work: 1989-1995
- Setting: New England
- Principal Characters: Mark Doty, Wally Roberts, Beau, Lynda, Bobby
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
- Subjects: Suffering, Gay men, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Poetry or poets, Death or dying, Bereavement or grief, AIDS, Terminal illness or terminally ill, Life and death
- Locales: New England
When a public health worker gave Mark Doty and his partner Wally Roberts the results of their AIDS test in May of 1989, the world cracked open for the couple. Although it was only Wally who tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Doty registered it as a solvent that dissolved both of their lives, erasing their future together and thus signaling an end to Doty’s life as well. They had built a solid and deeply satisfying relationship over the course of eight years, and would have another four years before Wally’s death in January, 1994.
Heaven’s...
[The entire page is 2615 words long]
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